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Trump reportedly joked that Pence wants to see gay people 'hang,' mocked his religious beliefs

Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump look on before departure at the White House on May 19, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS)

Vice President Mike Pence's hardline religious beliefs have been a running joke in the White House, and President Donald Trump once cracked that his right-hand man wanted to see all gay people "hang," a report said Monday.

Trump has been mocking Pence's devotion to evangelical Christianity and making light of some of Pence's most extreme views, according to a New Yorker story that documented their relationship.

The story said a Trump campaign staffer recalled that the president would ask people after meeting with Pence, "Did Mike make you pray?"

During a meeting with a legal scholar, Trump joked about Pence's opposition to abortion and gay rights.

When the scholar said that states would still legalize abortion even if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Trump reportedly told Pence, "You see? You've wasted all this time and energy on it, and it's not going to end abortion anyway."

When the topic turned to gay rights, Trump gestured at Pence and said, "Don't ask that guy--he wants to hang them all!"

The White House did not immediately respond to the report.

Pence, a former Indiana governor, has often mixed his political and religious beliefs and taken firm stances on divisive issues on which Trump has sometimes wavered.

As Indiana governor, Pence drew national controversy in 2015 for his support of a "religious freedom" bill that gay rights advocates said would legalize discrimination against LGBT citizens. After weeks of protests and business boycotts, Pence eventually revised the law to explicitly prevent discrimination.

Pence also signed a bill in 2016 that placed new restrictions on abortion providers and made Indiana the only state requiring a burial or cremation of fetal remains from an abortion.

In the White House, Pence became the only vice president in history to speak at the annual pro-life March for Life event in Washington, D.C. He has also spoken out against the legalization of gay marriage.